


Predictable

by thisbluespirit



Category: Zodiac (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Horoscopes, Obscure and British Commentfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 07:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14732196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisbluespirit/pseuds/thisbluespirit
Summary: Grad finally asks Esther to draw up a horoscope for him...





	Predictable

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Obscure & British Commentfest 2018, for Timelessapeel & the prompt: David Gradley/Esther Jones, Esther casts Grad's horoscope

“I thought you didn’t believe in astrology. Mumbo jumbo and superstition, isn’t that right?”

“I’m starting to wonder,” said Grad. “Besides, it’s in a spirit of scientific enquiry into the matter: you draw up my horoscope for this month, and if you can predict whodunit in all my upcoming cases, I’ll convert.”

Esther stole a glance at him. “Fair, if unlikely. Year of birth?”

“1939,” said Grad.

Esther wrote down _1933_ , and then surveyed the piece of paper, chin resting on her hands.

“You’re not plotting to cast any horrible spells, are you?” said Grad, watching her expression with sudden unease. “You don’t do a sideline in little wax dolls and pins?”

“Hmm?” she said, raising her head. “Don’t be silly. If you’re going to have me draw up your horoscope, you can at least take it semi-seriously.”

“I am. I’ll even pay you for it.”

“I wouldn’t do it otherwise,” said Esther. “What is it about? Planning any significant life changes in your near future?”

“Doesn’t that depend on what your chart has to say about it? I _am_ thinking of getting a new car, but if you tell me that Mercury is retrograde and the moon’s turned upside down this month, I suppose it’ll have to wait.”

“True.”

Grad looked worried again. “You will be kind, won’t you?”

“I interpret the stars,” said Esther. “I can’t ill wish people, even if I wanted to.”

“I don’t know,” Grad said. “I don’t think I’d put anything past you.”

 

Esther had the resulting horoscope drawn up by the following evening, and set about explaining it to Grad. “An Aries born in the Year of the Rooster –”

“The Year of the what?”

“The Rooster.”

“Well, now I know you’re making things up. I paid good money for this!”

Esther gave him a stern look. “An Aries born in the Year of the Rooster tends to attract attention, likes to get his own way and can be noisily persistent in doing so, but has an appealing persona. They are generally fussy about relationships, particularly romantic attachments, like to dress well, and when they don’t get their own way, have a tendency to express their discontent vocally, making them seem rather spoiled or selfish.”

“Yes, yes, the generic blather,” said Grad, although it wasn’t far enough off for him to completely dismiss it, but that was the thing with astrology. It was carefully designed to be like that. “How about whether or not it’s the right time to make any significant life changes?”

Esther passed him a sheet of paper, and sat down next to him on the sofa. “I made a few notes.”

“It’s a propitious time for an Aries to finally leave the force and do something he’s more interested in?” said Grad. “And a good time for entertaining female acquaintances, I see. Did you have anything specific in mind, perchance? Why didn’t you just add a date and the theatre and restaurant name on the end and call it the whim of Saturn, or, no, Venus?”

“You can’t argue with the stars.”

“I might try.”

“All right,” said Esther. “Look, I drew up your chart properly, I promise – that was just a particular interpretation I chose to emphasise.”

Grad studied the chart. “And what does all this mean? Is it a good time for this hybrid Rooster-Aries – now, there’s an appalling idea – to make any significant life changes?”

“That depends,” said Esther, “on what they are. The position of Mercury is very ambiguous here. A career change – or a romantic one?”

“You’re the one who can see the future,” said Grad. “What do you reckon?”

**Author's Note:**

> For the horoscope, I gave Grad the same birth year as Anton Rodgers (1933) and Googled the results for an Aries, so Esther's summary of the character of an Aries born in the Year of the Rooster is from [this site](http://www.gotohoroscope.com/chinese-astrology/aries-rooster.html).


End file.
